Loki'd by Pepper
by JesusFreakForever1
Summary: Loki had recently joined the Avengers after punishment in Asgard and proving himself worthy of being and Odinson again. Pepper goes out for coffee, and Loki is on the loose, pulling a prank that Tony is not likely to forget soon. (Loki does not accept responsibility for the prank, it was all Jarvis' idea!) One Shot


**Hey guys! This is just some really crazy idea I had, and I HAD TO. LET IT. OUT. Anyway, enjoy!**

"Sir, Mr. Odinson requests your presence in the living room once you have landed, he stressed that it is rather, urgent, so to speak."

Tony rolled his eyes, then scrunched his brow, confused, "Which-"

"The younger, sir."

"How did you know I was going to ask that? For all you know I could have been asking you something completely different and you would have made a total fool of yourself a-"

"I have spent close to fifteen years observing your thought and speech patterns, I pride myself in being able to predict your words and actions and being able to prepare accordingly, sir."

Tony rolled his eyes, "Smartass."

"I take that as a compliment."

Tony rolled his eyes again as he slowed down to land on the 'SuitPad' of Stark, no, Avengers tower. It had taken a lot of him to come back here, though. Fighting aliens does not leave one mentally unscathed. Harley's constant badgering about the wormhole and the results thereof are proof of that. It did not take much of him to turn _his _tower into the Avenger's humble abode, but it took some soul searching for him to do that.

What _really _took a lot of him though, was accepting Loki into the Avengers.

Steve was wary of him at first, but after being assured by Thor, _and _Odin that Loki had suffered sufficient punishment for his actions and had proven himself worthy of being an Odinson again, Steve trusted him without a second thought. Much like he did Hawkeye when Natasha assured him he was on their side.

Natasha closed herself off from Loki. Well, everyone else too, for that matter. Whenever everyone was in a room together, she would stand in one corner and glare at Loki all the while, and give a dirty look to anyone who made eye contact with her, except when Clint looked at her. She just gave him a subtle nod. This carried on for days, until Frigga and Sif came to visit the "Warrior Maiden of Midgard" and meet Thor's "Brothers and Sister in Arms" and acquaint themselves with Loki's new temporary home. (Loki wanted to 'acquaint' himself with Midgard and it's history and culture).

Long story short, Sif and Natasha had a staring competition. Sif won. The Lady Sif openly challenged the Widow of Black to a 'friendly' unarmed hand to hand combat. Sif won again, and gained Natasha's respect and friendship. Frigga had no need to win Natasha over, her motherly nature and wisdom did the trick, and, after a long conversation in Natasha's room which Jarvis was forbidden to record or speak of, Natasha was a lot more friendlier towards the trickster, and everyone else in general. Glares were less frequent and, friendly, yet guarded nods were more common.

Fury and Odin had a one-eyed staring match at the beginning of Loki's stay on Earth, and, needless to say, Odin, with the better argument, higher rank and countenance of a man who knew exactly what he was doing, won. The Council backed down without an argument, especially with the fiery Frigga on Odin's arm.

Clint did not try to kill Loki, yet, so all's good there. _I think. _Hey! No butting in while I am narrating! _Says who?_ I do! No italics unless I reveal what you are thinking, got it? _Yeah sure. Of course I do. Genius, remember? _Shut up. _Yes Mom. _Sorry, readers, Tony is just annoying like that. _I- _SHHHHH! Back to the story.

Loki, well, he was really shy when he wanted to be. He apologised sincerely to Natasha for the interrogation on the helicarrier, and was ecstatic to find that Coulson was alive. He apologised to Bruce for using him, and told the Other Guy that the Hulk was not dull at all. He gave Clint permission to command him as he wished for a whole day, and explained the punishment he received on Asgard for controlling the minds of others, yet, he still wished that Clint would find satisfaction in humiliating him in front of the Avengers, all of Midgard even. But Clint, still a bit shocked by the story he was told, decided that he wouldn't do such a thing. Yet.

Even after all the apologies he had given out, which were many, and all the forgiveness he had received, which was surprising, Loki was reserved, quiet, and kept things to himself (it did not stop him from playing the occasional harmless prank, though), which made Tony wonder exactly why Loki was calling him to the lounge. Probably for yet another apology, which Tony was sick and tired of, or, maybe a shyly-asked favour, which Tony thought it was high time for. Tony was a very generous person, and liked it when people asked him favours.

Tony dropped gracefully on the suitpad and smirked to himself as the robotic arms seamlessly removed the armour from his form as he walked, timing itself to his every movement. He was a genius. He idly wondered where Pepper was, he missed her greatly and would really appreciate it if Loki kept it short and sweet so that he could sweep her up in his arms and kiss her for all he was worth. He had the right to, she was his wife, after all.

"Hey, J, where is Peps?"

"She is currently sitting in a coffee shop with Tanya Smith, a colleague of hers, sir."

"That is not a lot to work from, J, which coffee shop?"

"I have been instructed not to inform you sir."

"WWWHHHHYYYYYY?"

"She wished for, quote, 'an uninterrupted span of time where I can focus on my work, and at the same time catch up with some of my girls.' She promised me that she would be back by nine and is sure to make it up to you."

Tony huffed and rolled his eyes, "How?"

"She said, quote, 'He has an imagination, tell him to use it.'"

Tony cracked a naughty grin, "That is more like it, now, where is Reindeer Games?"

"You mean Mr. Odinson, sir?"

Tony rolled his eyes once more, "Yes, J, _Mr. Odinson_. I thought you said something about my speech patterns?"

"Just because I recognise them does not mean that I understand them, sir. He is in the living room on the forty-fifth story."

Tony spun around into the waiting elevator and pressed the button for 45 hard.

"Thanks J,"

"My pleasure sir,"

Tony smirked and started tapping his feet, wishing he could make the elevator go faster (he could, but that did not mean that he would, Pepper had forbidden him to make it any faster than it was for the sake of her heart)

"Sir, I should inform you that I am not to blame for what you may find in the living room. I was merely a witness, though, I have no intention to stop it,"

Tony snapped his head up to the ceiling, "What is it J?"

"I was told that I was not to tell you, I am merely absolving all accusations that may be put on me...sassassstaaatiicccc..."

Static that sounded a creepy lot like laughter. Tony braced himself as the elevator _dinged_ and the door swung open. And, nothing? _Yeah, nothing, it's creeeeepppyyy. First Jarvis starts laughing and then the living room is absolutely void of li- _Ok, ok, I was not asking you, I was merely adding the question mark for narratory emphasis. _Is that even a word? _Emphasis? Yes. _I. Meant. . . _Yes, from this moment onwards it is a word. _I think you wanted to use the word narrative... _I don't care! I like making my own words up! Now shut up so that I can continue with the story.

In any case, the living room was empty, well, it seemed to be. Jarvis insisted between static giggles that Loki was there. Tony carefully moved forward, apprehensive to what he may find. Then, he heard voices. One of which was Pepper's. It was coming from the adjacent kitchen. Tony carefully tiptoed around the corner, he thought Pepper was supposed to be at a coffee shop with a colleague/friend?

He came around the corner to see Pepper casually making a sandwich, while her left hand was typing away at the laptop next to her. If that wasn't enough, she was having a coherent conversation with both the phone pressed between her shoulder and ear and Loki, who was sitting at the counter opposite her on a barstool.

Tony stopped short in his tracks, "Pep?"

Pepper ended her conversation on the phone and looked at Tony, smiling brightly, "Tony! Jarvis said that you were out with Rhodey. You back already?"

Tony just stared in dumbfounded silence as Pepper rushed forward to embrace him, "Pep, Jarvis said you were out with Tanya until nine..."

Pepper looked at Tony and frowned, "I-"

"Tony!" Tony and Pepper whipped their heads around to the sound, to see Pepper standing in the doorway. Loki giggled silently to himself and slipped away unnoticed.

Pepper walked towards the duo, "Tony, who is this?" she asked, venom and suspicion leaking into her tone.

Tony jumped out of Pepper 1's gentle grasp and started walking backwards, looking between the two, eyes going wide with fright. "Pep, there i-"

"Tony! What is going on?" Pepper one and two looked at each other, confused. Tony spun around, to see a third Pepper exit the elevator.

Tony started backing away, really freaked out. Pepper three walked towards him, arms slightly extended and concern written all over her face, "Tony? It's me, Pepper, your wife."

Tony shook his head and kept walking backwards, bumping into the counter as he did so.

"You? I'm sorry, _I _am his wife the last time I checked," Pepper one, or, two? Interjected, hand on her hip and an accusing finger towards Pepper three.

Pepper three turned around, "No. _I _am his wife. Wait a sec, who are you?"

"Virginia 'Pepper' Stark" the duo answered at exactly the same time. Confused, all three Peppers looked at each other, then started studying each other.

Tony looked on as the three Peppers started asking each other questions, studying each other's faces, analysing each other's wardrobe choices and trying to figure out how it all happened, Pepper's way. With lot's of gestures, shaking heads, panicked intervals of arguing and looking everything up on laptops and cellphones. Tony made a run for it.

He ran. He ran as fast as he could down the corridors. He was going mad, he had to be. Three Peppers don't just show up out of nowhere.

He rounded a corner, and, stopped dead in his tracks. He swore he could feel a panic attack coming on. There, before his eyes, was another Pepper, conversing casually with Natasha.

"Tony? Are you okay?" Run! And run Tony did. "Tony!" he heard the dreaded clicking of heels behind him, at least he could easily outrun Pepper, especially when she was wearing heels. Natasha was another story, but he could still outrun her if he was careful, but that was the last thing on his mind right now. He was going crazy!

He broke into a sprint, it scared him how fast he could run when he wanted to. He rounded a corner, almost sliding all over the floor as he did so, and, ANOTHER ONE!

"Tony!" RUN! his heart pounded in his ears and his lungs were burning, and all he could hear was _click-click-click-click-click _slowly fading softer and softer until he could not hear it anymore.

He ran. And ran. And ran. He was somehow on the lower floors, and employees were looking at him as if he had gone mad. Well, he had! That was why he was running! He was pretty sure he ran past a few other Peppers as well, and all the faces melted together into a blur.

He couldn't hear. All he heard was his heartbeat and his laboured breaths, punctuated by the occasional all-too-familiar "Tony!" and clicking of heels. He couldn't see. All he saw was a blur, a blur of faces staring at him, and the occasional flash of strawberry blonde hair which made his heart skip a beat each time they appeared.

He was on the higher floors again, he was pretty sure of this because Capsicle's red and white themed lounge was definitely not on the employee levels. He couldn't stop, not now. The clicking still haunted him. He was not sure if he was imagining it or if it was real anymore. He wasn't sure where he was.

OOOMMMPPHHH. He made contact with something big, and hard, and immovable. He fell back on the floor hard. Where was he now? What did he run into?

"Stark! Are you alri-" Supersoldier, obviously. He did not listen to the rest of the sentence, before he knew it he was back on his feet and running again, leaving a confused Steve in his wake.

Steve had just finished his late afternoon run. He walked his way back to the tower, wanting to take in the city sights in slo-mo for once, was slo-mo the right word? Maybe. Let's just go with slow-motion.

The familiar sound of thrusters filled the air, and Steve watched as Iron Man swooped overhead in the direction of the tower. About time. Steve had no idea what Tony was doing the whole day, but Pepper had assured him that it was nothing to worry about. He liked Pepper, she was a nice person, and she was really good for Stark. She was his good side.

Speak of the devil, he saw her in a coffee shop as he walked past, conversing with another woman in the same type of formal business wear. Probably a colleague. She caught his eye and waved. He waved back. This woman never failed to be friendly. She even brought Natasha out of her shell. One person he was a bit wary of her being friendly with though, was Loki.

Not that he didn't trust him. No, he trusted him completely after both Thor and Odin had assured him that Loki was on the good side, it was just that it seemed so out of place that Pepper should be so nice to a man who almost killed her husband. Well, she was a very forgiving person, and she took it upon herself to bring Loki out of his little world of self-loathing. Stark seemed alright with that, and Steve did not have any more authority over a woman than her husband, so if her husband was alright with it, he was alright with it.

Steve smiled, Pepper was like a mother to the Avengers, including Tony, and especially Bruce. She would worry about them when they were on missions, and made sure that they were comfortable and well cared for when they came back. She got Bruce to stay and convinced him that she really didn't mind the Other Guy, and was certain he would behave. She also thanked the Other Guy for saving her husband. Needless to say, the first words that came out of the Hulk's mouth when Pepper showed up on a mission was, "Pepper pretty, Hulk like Pepper. Tin Man Pepper us-band."

Steve chuckled at the memory as he entered the tower, smiling as he greeted the passing employees. He got off the elevator on his floor and made a beeline for his sketchbook, he saw a Jeep CJ on his run and was just itching to draw it, shower can come later.

Halfway through the sketch his stomach grumbled, might as well grab a bite. He stood and made his way over to his kitchen. Suddenly a flash of brown hair tumbled into him and flew to the other side of the room with a loud OOOMMMPPHHH.

Steve blinked, it was Stark! Lying flat on his back and muttering things under his breath. Steve walked over to him slowly, "Stark! Are you alright?" He asked concerned. He was pretty sure Stark never heard him, because the moment he started speaking Stark jumped up with a glazed, mad look in his eye and began running again. And, pretty fast, Steve had to admit.

He looked after Tony's figure, deeply confused. _Click-click-click-click _Steve looked up at the sound, to see a breathless Pepper, no, _PEPPERS _running towards him.

Steve just stared. He must be crazy. He had just seen Pepper in a coffee shop, and she most definitely did not have a twin sister, or any other relatives that looked exactly like her as far as he knew. There were at least four in front of him.

"Steve!" The leading Pepper said, "Did you see where Tony went? Please, this is urgent!"

Now, Supersoldiers were not known to faint, so, when gray dots started to line Captain America's vision, it was a completely new sensation for him. Not so new though, for Steve Rogers. The floor came up to meet him, and everything was black.

Natasha stomped through the building, with at least three Peppers she had managed to round up in tow, in search of one person, Loki.

Now, Natasha was not angry with Loki at all. More Peppers would be wonderful, life in the tower would be a whole lot easier, and Stark's reaction was very amusing. But, his mental health and the stability of his and the real Pepper's relationship was at stake, so, she went to find Loki to set things straight.

She and Loki got along surprisingly well, she did not trust him the way she trusted Clint, (obviously, Clint was her husband, but, she was not going to tell anyone yet, she was not ready. Neither was Clint.) but, she still trusted him enough to converse with him. His mother was cool, though. His friend Sif too. She couldn't help herself, but she could not wait for their next visit to Midgard.

They found Loki where she thought they would, in the library, reading. Well, it looked like he had been reading at some point, because a book laid sprawled open on his lap. He was, in fact, focusing on a small screen on the other side of the room where Jarvis was playing the security footage of Tony skittering throughout the tower.

Natasha smiled slightly at the images she saw, then motioned for the three Peppers to sit down. Leaning against the doorframe, she crossed her arms, suppressed her urge to burst out laughing and mustered her 'interrogation face'.

"Loki."

Loki almost jumped ten feet into the air, and whipped his head around to face Natasha. Studying her glare, he started stuttering. Natasha almost felt bad at the fearful expression on his face.

"I- it was Jarvis' idea! I just had the means to do it and I could not resist!"

Natasha couldn't resist either, and she burst out laughing, much to the relief of Loki and the annoyance of the three Peppers.

"Ms. Romanoff, I do say that this is rather amusing to watch, and I pride myself in being part of playing my first 'prank'"

Natasha smiled, "I agree with you, and Loki, excellent job with the clones. I just think that this might be-"

"A tad taxing on Mr. Stark's mental health?"

"Yeah."

Loki looked at her sheepishly, and opened his mouth to speak only to be interrupted by Jarvis.

"Mr. Odinson, I do think that it would be wise to get rid of the clones now."

"Why?" Loki and Natasha asked simultaneously.

"Mr. Stark has locked himself in a closet and is currently hitting his head against the back of it."

"Oh, for the sake of Valhalla, what have I done?" Loki asked, waving his hand. All at once the clones disappeared without so much as a scream. All of them.

Natasha sighed, Loki looked remorseful. "Jarvis, please call Mrs. Stark." she stated simply. Jarvis complied without retort.

Tony ran and ran and ran. His lungs were burning more than ever. His heart was beating so fast it was scary, and his eyes were burning with involuntary tears.

He did not know how, but he had somehow locked himself in a closet. He sank to the floor in relief, his shaking limbs unable to hold him anymore. He drew in breath after shaky breath, trying to calm his racing heart. He was going mad. He began bumping his head lightly against the back wall of the closet, slowly going harder and harder. It made a nice calming rhythm. _Bump...bump...bump..._

He did not know how long he was sitting there, he did not know if he had fallen asleep or just blacked out, but he vaguely became aware of Jarvis calling him, softly, forebodingly, as if he were afraid he would break him by speaking too loudly.

"Sir?" It sounded so far away, like it was echoing on the other side of a canyon.

"Sir?" So far away, far away.

"J?" he barely whispered.

"I apologise. It was my fault." echo, echo, echo.

Tony lifted his head slowly to the ceiling, "What...was?" He choked out.

"Si-" He did not hear the rest. _Wow. Dramatic, aren't you? _Congratulations, you just ruined another moment. _That's what I live for. _You. Are not. Supposed. To interrupt. The storyteller. _Why not? _Because it is against the rules- _we both know I don't do rules. _Of literature and it has been like that since storytelling began so SHUT UP! _Okay, okay. Sheesh._

Pepper ran up the stairs to the library after getting off the elevator, she felt kinda bad for leaving Tanya like that, but, if _Natasha _of all people insists that something is an emergency, then it most definitely is one.

She burst into the library, looking from a very sheepish looking Loki to a serious Natasha.

"What is it?"

"Follow me."

Pepper took off after a very destination-driven Natasha, "That does not explain what is going on."

"Jarvis and Loki pulled a prank." Natasha said as casually as if she were talking about the weather.

"What kind of pra-aank," Pepper replied, almost tripping over the unconscious Steve.

"Pranks that make Supersoldiers faint." Natasha simply stated, not stopping for a second.

Pepper ran after Natasha after staring at the unconscious Steve for a moment, "Specify."

"Loki and Jarvis made clones of you. Those clones kept fighting with each other over who was Tony's wife. Tony thought he was going crazy, and then he eventually did go crazy."

Pepper stopped dead in her tracks, "Wait, what?"

"You heard me."

"So, you mean to tell me that Jarvis, of all people, and Loki made clones of me just make Tony think that he was going crazy and then he just cracked. Clones of _me_?"

"Yes. Clones of you. It was entertaining before it started becoming serious. Tony wouldn't stop running."

"Jarvis, you have a lot of nerve."

"I apologise, Mrs. Stark, neither I nor Loki could foresee that it would take such a drastic turn. We expected him to catch on immediately."

"It's ok. Natasha, where is he?"

Natasha stopped in front of a closet. "He locked himself in here."

Pepper walked towards the doors purposefully. "Jarvis. Unlock."

"Ma'a-"

"Now."

_click._

Pepper slowly pulled the door open, and was shocked with what she saw. Tony was huddled in a little ball, shivering and muttering under his breath.

Pepper looked back at Natasha, who looked just as shocked as she was. She put her hand out onto his shoulder. He barely moved.

"Tony," She whispered. His reaction was not what she had expected.

Tony was dancing between consciousness and darkness, shivering in himself. He was vaguely aware of voices. _They are just in your head _he convinced himself. There was suddenly light around him. He didn't even flinch. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. He could not be imagining it, it was just so real, so tangible.

What he heard next was enough to stop his heart.

"Tony,"

He heard that name so many times, he heard that voice so many times. It was so real, so real, yet he knew it was his imagination, it had to be. He looked up, and then everything happened all at once.

Tony jumped back, batting her hand off his shoulder. He crawled back and pressed his back against the wall, looking at her as if he had seen a ghost. He was breathing rapidly and shaking like mad, yet, that wasn't what worried her. His eyes. His eyes were wild and glazed over, like he was staring past her, but he was actually looking at her directly in the eyes.

"Tony." She whispered again, moving towards him. The closer she got the faster he breathed. Oh, what had this childish prank done? She put her hand out and tenderly cupped his cheek. He held his breath for a moment. She searched his eyes, and cupped his other cheek. Slowly, he started breathing again, normally, calmly, yet, he still looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

She looked at him deep in his eyes, searching for him. "Tony, it's okay," she whispered over and over. _It's okay, it's okay, it's okay_.

Tony looked at her again, then visibly relaxed. "Pepper." He whispered. Without a second thought she wrapped him in a relieved embrace. It was okay.

Tony looked at the woman in front of him. Strawberry blonde hair. The voice. All so familiar. Terrified, he backed up against the wall. His heart was going haywire, he could barely control his breathing. Everything was a blur.

There was a hand on his cheek. "Tony." There it was again, that voice. Green eyes. Beautiful green eyes. Sad green eyes. A hand on his other cheek. He was forced to look into those familiar green irises, not that he minded.

"Tony, it's okay," He believed her. It was okay now. She was Pepper. _His _Pepper, and nothing was going to change that. She was crying, why was she crying? He looked deep into her eyes, and he whispered that beautiful word.

"Pepper."

And with that he was wrapped into a swift embrace. He held on tight, scared that he might lose her, scared she might lose him. He felt tears fall onto her shoulders. It was okay. It is okay. And nothing is going to change that.

**A/N: Aaaannnddd there you go! My first oneshot EVER!**


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